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NEW YORK -- U.S. single-family home prices rose less than expected in April, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.2 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis. A Reuters poll of economists forecast a gain of 0.8 percent following gains of 1.2 percent in March.

Non-seasonally adjusted prices rose 1.1 percent in the 20 cities, compared to an expectation of a 0.8 percent rise.

"Near term economic factors favor further gains in housing," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement.

"However, housing is not back to normal: prices are being supported by cash sales, low inventories and declining foreclosure and [real estate owned] sales. First time home buyers are not back in force and qualifying for a mortgage remains challenging."

Prices in the 20 cities rose 10.8 percent year over year, shy of expectations for 11.6 percent.

The seasonally adjusted 10-city gauge was unchanged in April versus a 1.2 percent gain in March, while the non-adjusted 10-city index rose 1 percent in April compared to a 0.8 percent gain in March.

Year over year, the 10 city gauge also rose 10.8 percent.

Year-over-year gain: 21.5%

Median sale price, Jan. 2013: $224,450

Median sale price, Jan. 2014: $272,750

Residents enjoy hundreds of nearby hiking trails, as well as indoor culture at the Fine Arts Center and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.

This neighborhood, bounded by the Schuylkill River and 20th Street, and by South Street and Christian Street, was viewed as a slum in the 1970s, when Philadelphia's Redevelopment Authority took over abandoned properties.

The Washington Post listed Sunset Hills among "the shortest commute" category of Virginia neighborhoods, with an average commute time of just over 21 minutes. And Dulles International Airport is about six miles away.

Brighton, once the center of New England's cattle trade, is in the northwest corner of Boston, on the Charles River. The Brighton Branch Library is Boston's first renovated LEED Green Building. The Brighton Police station is shown here.

South Loop joins a number of other once-blighted neighborhoods on this list that have been redeveloped and are now hot. The site of former rail yards, it was known for many years more for its vices (as in brothels, burlesques) than its residential virtues.

Newhall, the southernmost and oldest district of Santa Clarita, was the first permanent Anglo settlement in the valley. Ranches-turned-film studios dot the area, including the Melody Ranch, which was once owned by Gene Autry. The ranch hosts the annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival.

This is the most affluent neighborhood in Charlotte; the median income is $79,737, according to Zillow. That compares with a median of $46,975 for Charlotte. A high point of the area is the Duke Mansion, built in 1915 by tobacco magnate James Buchanan Duke.

People who live here, according to classifications Zillow uses to characterize residents, are likely to be: Corporate Climbers, Multi-lingual Urbanites or in a category called "Bright Lights, Big City," which Zillow uses to describe "singles ranging in age from the early 20s to mid-40s who have moved to an urban setting."

Bloomberg ranked neighborhoods in U.S. cities based on the year-over-year increase in median home sale prices from January 2013 to January 2014. Percentage increases were based on Zillow calculations of median sale prices of all home types and calculated only for neighborhoods with at least 10 sales per month. Only neighborhoods with median home sale prices of at least $250,000 in January 2014 were included. Data were rounded.